Peace Inside, Hate Outside; The Glasgow Friends of Israel Conference

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Glasgow Friends of Israel 10-year anniversary conference. A beautiful, inspiring day filled with sunshine, passionate speakers and a strong sense of community. It was moving to gather with fellow activists, many of whom hadn’t met in person before, and share thoughts, feelings and plans for the future. 

Inside, the tone was hopeful and determined. We heard from David Collier, the investigative journalist who broke the scandal over the BBC documentary “Gaza, how to survive a war zone”. He laid bare the propaganda pipeline, from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad through to the respectable face of outlets like the BBC and Sky News. We also heard from the CEO of Magen David Adom UK, Daniel Burger, who spoke powerfully about their life-saving mission to save all lives, regardless of race or religion. MSP Jackson Carlaw gave a fiery and heartfelt defence of Scotland’s Jewish community, exposing the warped narratives infiltrating Scottish politics. 

But perhaps the most powerful part of the day was the space for disagreement. We didn’t all share the same views on the Israeli government, or the peace process, or even the path forward. But we disagreed with respect and integrity. As someone who comes from a leftist background, it was deeply refreshing. A space where disagreement does not mean dehumanisation, silencing and vitriol, but genuine respect for those who say what they believe is right and true, because they believe it is right and true. 

Outside the venue, however, a different story unfolded.

A small but aggressively loud group of protesters gathered, screaming slogans, banging pots and pans, and trying to intimidate attendees. They failed. We walked through a different door and went about our day. 

But they stayed. For eight hours.

While we listened they shrieked. While we reached across differences they raged. While we spoke of peace they chanted hate. 

Credit – Leah Benoz

At one point their leader, and founder of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was taken into the back of a police van. This was the only time the crowd moved from their position on the steps of the venue. In defence of their figurehead, they surrounded the police van, screaming and frothing with rage, refusing to let it move. They banged on the sides and the bonnet, and attempted to intimidate the police. Some even climbed underneath the wheels, forcing the small team of officers to form a human chain around the van.

Eventually he appeared to be released. Was he arrested and de-arrested? Held to diffuse tensions? Released by outnumbered police who did not have the manpower to control the situation? I have yet to discover exactly what transpired in that police van, but certainly the appearance was one of mob rule, not justice. 

Inside, one simple message was repeated time and again. “If you want peace for one side, you must want peace for both”

Glasgow Friends of Israel’s tagline says it clearly; 

Pro Israel.

Pro Palestinian.

Pro Peace. 

So what, exactly, were they protesting with such rage?

What about this simple message terrified them so much that many of them felt it appropriate to expose their own children, some tiny babies in prams, to eight hours of screaming in megaphones, aggression and hate? 

It wasn’t our politics that enraged them. 

It was our refusal to hate. 

It was the simple, unthreatening notion that both peoples deserve dignity, both Arab and Jew. 

That’s what they tried to shut down. 

with permission -Glasgow Friends of Israel

Sunday laid it bare; this is not a movement for justice, it is a movement defined by rage, and increasingly by cult-like loyalty to their worshipped leaders. The public disruption, the cost of policing, the labour of the essential workers they expect to clean up after them, and the risk to the Jewish community, must all be weighed against this simple fact, because this wasn’t about Israel, it wasn’t even about Gaza, it was about silencing Jews, even, and most especially when we talk of peace.

Vicci and Sammy Stein, the founders of Glasgow Friends of Israel, can be immensely proud of what they have built in the last ten years, and the hate-filled crowd outside can rest uncomfortably in the knowledge that all they managed to achieve was to highlight without any doubt, the absolute contrast between their darkness and our light. 

At the close of the day, as Sammy said a prayer for the hostages in Hebrew and English, and Ariella Knoble-Gershon, representing both the Board of Deputies and the Hostage Family Forum UK, lit a candle. I was reminded, as I am every time I stand with this community, that there is no doubt in my mind where I would rather be.